No matter what diet you choose to follow, it can be beneficial to take a supplement for vitamins and minerals that may be lacking in your food. I’m going to let you know what my ritual is with vitamins and the three brands I’m loyal to.
[Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional so please do not take any of this as professional medical advice. I am only sharing my own experience with you, based on my understanding and knowledge]
It’s important to not just settle for any vitamins that you see in a store – according to Dr. Michael Greger in his book How Not To Diet: 4 out of 5 supplements/vitamins found in the major grocery stores when tested contained mostly fillers and not much, if any, of the what they were claiming to sell.
Dr. Michael Greger emphasizes the importance of getting our nutrients mostly from fruits and veggies in the produce aisle versus from a pill – however, there are some cases where it’s essential to consume fortified foods or a multivitamin. I take great pride in choosing a plant-based diet and vegan lifestyle, but there is a balance in my diet of whole foods along with some processed vegan junk food.
It is better for your body to consume the whole plant containing the vitamins and minerals – let’s be honest, sometimes we don’t want to take the time to make sure we’re following the Daily Dozen (sorry Doc). If you’re committed to getting essential vitamins and minerals in your diet, then brand awareness plays a part as well. For me, sustainability and ethics are always at the forefront.
One supplement deficiency every diet is lacking (not just vegan/plant-based) is Vitamin B-12. Here are some facts about Vitamin B-12:
- As a species, humans used to get their B-12 (cobalamin) fresh from the soil.
- Around 95% of all B12 supplements manufactured are actually given to farmed animals.
- The liver can store 3 to 5 years worth of vitamin B-12 and we only lose 0.1% of our B-12 stores in urine each day so signs of a dietary deficiency aren’t usually immediate.
- “Early humans received plenty of B-12 from the good quality (cobalt-rich) soil that was yet to be intensively farmed and drained of nutrients, and because they drank dirty (“natural”) water from rivers which also contained B-12 and B-12 producing bacteria.”
Now that we got that out of the way, onto my journey with vitamins:
I was on a cocktail from big pharma in my teens into early adulthood, so taking a pill is off-putting to my subconscious in general. I have had to create a ritual that allows me to enjoy taking my vitamins, but it didn’t happen overnight.
I have a friend who is all about the vitamins, he’s obsessed. You tell him what’s going on with you and he’s got three different supplements for you to take.
I started taking some of the vitamins he suggested and that caused me to do my research.
I did have a two months subscription with Care/Of but inevitably it ended up not being what I was looking for. I did use their ashwagandha, elderberry, d3, b12, iron, magnesium, and their vegan complex one. We still have packs laying around that we take every so often, but it was daunting to take seven pills all at once.
I had some B12 spray that I used for a while and kept in the fridge.
When we lived up North I also took elderberry gummies and would drink ACV with water on a daily basis (for a while…as you’ll learn once I fall into a routine I become bored and have to change it up).
When we moved down south at the end of the summer, I started taking Rae Wellness Prenatal and Beauty Vitamins along with Pacifica’s gummies for Mood and Beauty as well. I also take Rae Wellness Vegan Collagen Powder in Lavender Lemon, their DeStress drops, and their Energy drops along with the samples of their DeStress Pills and flavorless collagen powder pacts. I chose to support Rae because along with an affordable price tag they are a woman-led vegan company that has partnered with Girls Inc. This means that 5% of every purchase goes directly to Girls. Inc., the non-profit organization that inspires girls to be strong, smart, and bold through direct service and advocacy.
I have been a slut for Pacifica since my early 20’s. I remember getting Ipsy bags with fun Pacifica products. I’ll save a longer review later because I have so many Pacifica products that I’ll need to just do a non-sponsored post focused on Pacifica, but for now, I’ll leave it at I love Pacifica products and I’m proud to support them, extremely brand loyal.
I was so excited when Sapling reached out to me for the opportunity to try their product. I was impressed with this women’s multivitamin straight from the packaging. I choose to support more sustainable companies – I didn’t like not being able to recycle Rae’s vitamin bottles, but I know that Pacifica will take theirs back to recycle.
Straight off the bat Sapling lets you know that for every product purchased, a tree is planted!
“We created Sapling™ because we felt there was a lack of plant-based supplements. Our goal is to enable people to switch to supplements sourced from more sustainable ingredients, while maintaining a healthy plant-based diet. Outside of that, we thought more needed to be done for the environment, so we built in a one-for-one model that plants one tree for each bottle sold.”
They are partnered with Eden Reforestation Project: (Eden Reforestation Projects is a 501c3 non-profit whose mission is to provide fair wage employment to impoverished villagers as agents of global forest restoration. We hire the poorest of the poor to grow, plant, and guard to maturity native species forest on a massive scale. Our “employ to plant methodology” results in a multiplication of positive socio-economic and environment measures.)
I admire their dedication to this cause:
“Deforestation has reached record levels. Every minute approximately 27 soccer fields are destroyed, which adds up to nearly 18.7 million acres of forest lost every year. For example, in Madagascar, only 10% of the original forest remains. This is just one of dozens of forests that have been decimated. Trees are not only essential to the environment and wildlife, they also directly impact the humans in those regions. Trees provide clean air, a habitat for biodiversity, erosion control, timber, employment, food, and help to fight climate change.” Trees are currently being planted in Madagascar, Haiti, Nepal, Indonesia, Mozambique, Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda, Guinea, and Tanzania. Depending on the project or planting season, our partners will choose the most appropriate location at that time. – You can check out their web site for more information about the trees being planted.
I love to feel good about supporting a company and right from the start Sapling was checking off all my boxes. I was so impressed when I saw their ingredients too!! These vitamins are packed with all the good things I want to include in my diet.
As far as my ritual of taking vitamins go – I will be honest: I do skip days with my vitamins. I am not perfect with taking my pills daily and I think in part that’s a way for me to reject my self-imposed routine. I will say that I do follow this ritual at least four times a week.
I try to take my pre-biotic from Rae on an empty stomach in the morning before my breakfast and I will drink that with regular water.
I take Sapling’s Whole Food Multivitamin and Multimineral with Super Greens, Adaptogens, Fruits & Vegetables between breakfast and lunch with a glass of coconut water. At this time, I will assess if I want to add a drop of ENERGY to my coconut water or if I wanted to do a lemon-lavender vegan collagen scoop as well. At this point, I will possibly take some other vitamins such as my prenatal or my beauty vitamins.
I will take my Pacifica gummies throughout the day. Sometimes I’ll wake up and take the beauty vitamins to get something in my stomach before I drink a glass of water. I usually do the Mood gummies in the evening.
At night time if I make a tea or Four Sigmatic Hot Cacao with Reishi I’ll add a dropper or two of the Destress from Rae.
Some days I do all of this, some days I do a combination and some days I do none of this. I am trying to be consistent with more of my routines and rituals, and hopefully posting about it on the internet will help hold me accountable.
Although I got this first bottle from Sapling for free, I would be willing to spend my money to continue supporting this company and taking this product.
As a vegan, I make sure to avoid any products that have gelatin, milk, eggs, shellfish, lanolin, or any other animal by-product. You will want to be mindful of this if you are looking for supplements because not everyone is aware that many Vitamin D vitamins contain lanolin, which is taken from sheep’s wool. You will want to many sure any gummy does not have gelatin, as that is the result of crushed animal bones.
What vitamins do you take? What brands do you trust? Anyone who is new to the vitamin world and unsure where to even begin should start off by checking out Sapling.
Dat Krunchy Couple 